US President Donald Trump told Israeli reporters in Jerusalem that he "never mentioned Israel", in an apparent reference to the intelligence leak during a meeting with Russian officials.
The remark was made at the end of a live statement to the press at the beginning of his close meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.
According to US media reports, Trump revealed highly classified intelligence information about the Islamic State in Syria to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyak during a White House meeting last week.
The information was given to the US by an Israeli source and the leak endangered the life of a spy who was placed inside the IS by Israel, according to the reports.
On Monday, Trump briefly remarked on these accusations after he and Netanyahu gave their statements to the press, saying he "never mentioned the word Israel".
Trump landed in Israel on Monday for meetings with Israeli leaders before he will travel to Bethlehem to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
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--IANS
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